These mouse-like creatures look like they came straight out of some sci-fi piece! But in fact, Takamichi Irie modeled them after a real-life family of rodents called Dipodidae. As you can imagine, they are like a cross between a mouse and a kangaroo. Thankfully, it doesn’t take someone who studies animals to recognize the beauty in these little beasts, and best yet, they’re not the only amazing creatures Takamichi has created!
Click to see more incredible creatures
I like to see everyday things recreated in LEGO and this one is no exception. The sound of the crank and the aroma of pencil shavings just takes me back to decades of exams and homework. that really seems a lot easier thinking back now. While it’s a perfect representation by Legobyleaves, the way to make it even more awesome is a little modification can be made. Just imagine if the studs drop out only after the crank turns! Remember kids, stay in school as long as you can! Work ain’t fun as you think it may be!
Click to see the pencil sharpener in action
Daryl Ng complements his LEGO Han Solo’s blaster with the classic E-11 blaster rifle seen in the original Star Wars trilogy. His LEGO rendition is true to the props seen on-screen, capturing the Sterling SMG underneath and various sci-fi details. Like his previous blaster build, the E-11 is presented with a display stand featuring a UCS-style specification card.
Sometimes I wonder how characters in horror films manage to make the worst decisions. Then I played as far as I could get in the terrifying first-person perspective game Alien: Isolation, and it all makes sense. In the heat of the moment, good decisions are hard to come by, and you don’t always have as much information as you need. For example, the motion tracker, like most of the equipment found in the game, is true to the aesthetic of the Alien film franchise and while incredibly useful, has definite limitations. Nevertheless, it’s a great device, and I decided to replicate this tool with LEGO.
The screen and every light on the in-game model lights up on my LEGO replica. I also had the chance to use a technique I wanted to use in a prop replica for a while now; the coiled wire on the right side of the device was made with a flexible hose and numerous Technic worm gears.
Ever wonder what a LEGO violin sounds like? Me neither. This realistic model by Ryan McNaught may not produce the high-quality sounds of a Stradivarius, but it almost looks like the real deal. The distinct shape of the instrument is made possible by curved slope pieces, and the use of the radar dishes for the scroll is incredibly realistic. Even the bow has a bend to it and retained its characteristic pearl eye on the frog. Let’s hear that concerto in brick major!
Builder and photographer Helen Sham built a nostalgic Hasselblad 503CX and made it functional. The only thing it can’t do is take an actual photo (just yet), but it does come with the bells and whistles. This LEGO built camera has parts that can be separated as would the real Hasselblad. It includes a mirror for the viewfinder that will actually give you a reversed image of your frame. There’s a spring-loaded shutter button that gives you a real feeling of releasing the shutter and a running counter, had the camera have actual film in there. I’m more impressed that it only took Helen about 2 hours to put it together with an assortment of 1120 parts.
Click here to peek inside the camera!
Cassette players scream eighties so loudly that it seems kind of redundant to mark tapes as “80s mix”, but Jarekwally still decided to bring out the nostalgia even more. The builder was inspired by his father’s stories of how they used to pirate music nearly forty years ago with a radio and a tape deck. Cassette players are so iconic, you don’t even need to have 80s nostalgia to be inspired by them.
Jarekwally’s build is not the first time we’ve seen cassette players in LEGO, which kind of makes sense, as tapes are just blocky technical items with a limited variation of texture — which translates into bricks very well. What I love about this particular version is the use of chrome silver around the cassette slot and the underside of a plate as the speaker mesh. Simple indeed, but inspired.
Check out these other LEGO retro audio instruments:
Darth Vader is probably one of the most iconic fictional villains. Constantinos and Petros Nicolaou have built their own life-sized LEGO version of Darth Vader’s head. The brothers used 2712 bricks to construct the head of Darth Vader, complete with his instantly recognisable helmet with its triangular breathing apparatus. Building mainly in black is usually a trademark for Batman, but the brothers used curved and straight edge slopes to sculpt a great many details, despite the limited colour scheme.
I think this would be an ideal sculpture to be displayed in the hallway of your home, if you enjoy frightening visitors.
ZaziNombies LEGO Creations expands his arsenal of LEGO gaming weaponry into the massive multiplayer battle royale genre with a replica of the Tactical Shotgun from Fortnite. The chunky style and bold colors of the game were captured well. I especially like the upper handguard area and the screen mounted on the left side. Watch ZaziNombies demonstrate the sliding pump action and compare it to the in-game model in this video.
The critically acclaimed PlayStation title Horizon: Zero Dawn continues to inspire fantastic LEGO builds, such as a life-size replica of the Sharpshot Bow built by Peter Mowry. His prop goes beyond beautiful tribal embellishments and impressive scale, though. The bow can fire a live arrow, which is accomplished with a sturdy Technic framework and real bow string.
Some of our younger readers will not remember the experience of scrolling the camera film forward after taking a photograph. Indeed, before the automatic whirring that signalled the end of the film, cameras had little turning levers to manually winding the film back into its protective housing. This LEGO version of an old camera in 1:1 scale was built by Andreas Lenander as a gift for his dad. While it is not a specific model, I did think it was reminiscent of the old Leica cameras with their black and silver bodies, and a selection of turning knobs and switches on top.
The king of awesome little LEGO camera’s must be Chris McVeigh, who also generously shares instructions for his builds on his own website. If you like the camera we highlighted above, you will definitely enjoy Chris’ LEGO Polaroid camera.
Drawing inspiration specifically from the Nerf Elite line of foam dart blasters, Pistash has created his own LEGO Nerf gun. His model doesn’t appear to fire, but with its Elite color scheme and lines of texture breaking up bold shapes, it looks the part. In particular, I like the use of a ladder at the top, white rubber bands to suggest depth to the front dart holsters, and orange brick separators to texture the pistol grip.
